I've been thinking about emigrating from the UK for some time now and I qualify for a permanent visa. I'm married and have 2 kids so schooling is important. I work in the construction industry and my wife is a qualified teachers assistant. However, We will both try our hand at anything.

So basically we just want opinions. We are going to Brisbane for the first time in January for a 3 week holiday.

We're not really interested in city life and we're not drinkers so nightlife doesn't bother us.

Thanks

Brisbanes not the place if you dont want city life, you could probably get work in country regional areas with your occupations .

We're only going there for a holiday, we're staying in Redcliffe.

We wouldn't want to live in City 365 days of the year but we don't mind visiting ha ha

The Sunshine Coast and its hinterland (100 km north of Brisbane) is a great area. Has most of the facilities of a city anyway but still a 'community' atmosphere.

If you can live in Redcliffe you can live anywhere.

Hi we are hoping to move up to QLD early next year but not sure of suburbs - redcliffe was somewhere that was mentioned a family friendly fairly affordable place - how is it?

If you are not into nightlife then Redcliffe is a lovely area. There are walks along the esplanade and bay for quite a few miles either way and a man-made swimming lagoon. Not many shops but it is quite easy to get to central Brisbane or nearest big shopping precinct would be Chermside. It is also central for exploring hinterland, sunshine coast and also no distance over the Gateway Bridge to the gold coast.

Good job they stated they didn't want city life then. (Is there a spam emoticon anywhere?)

Redcliffe is a brilliant place to bring up kids. In fact, given their requirements (ie: not fussed on city life) sounds like it would be perfect

Too right. At weekends it takes about 50 mins to get to Surfers. Approx the same to get to Mooloolaba, the same to get to Montville and Maleny, plus we have beaches (sure they're not like the Sunny or Gold Coast) but they are on your doorstep and perfect for little'uns (we have a 5, 3 and 4 month old). Bikeways go all along the shoreline. We have a ridiculous amount of festivals which means there's a lot to do with the kids. If you want serious shopping then you have Chermside 25 mins away. The only real downside is the commute, but it is something I have learned to deal with and is certainly worth it, because the lifestyle is so good up here. Additionally, your budget would get you a pretty nice place up here as the boom hasn't reached us yet. $400k could get you a 4 bed brick and tile house on a good street approx 800 metres from the beach up here!

Thanks for all your replies. No doubt I will have plenty more questions to ask but reading through other peoples post has answered quite a few already.